Category: Carbon Neutrality

What is seen in the picture is a set of upcycled wooden chairs recently created by the students of Ramco Industrial Training Institute (ITI). Around 25 student volunteers, trained in upcycling, give a new lease of life to discarded materials by transforming them into functional furniture and utility items, such as chairs, tables, stools, and dustbins. The upcycled products are now being used in several offices of the Ramco Group.

Many of the chairs produced by the students are made from recycled wooden packaging materials that originally accompanied textile machinery. The students use ordinary carpentry tools, including chisels and hammers, while screws are employed for fixing chair components. In keeping with the project’s environmentally conscious approach, chemical adhesives are deliberately avoided. Instead, students use traditional binding materials such as kanji, a semi-liquid starch obtained from cooked rice and water during the rice-cooking process.

The upcycling process begins with the collection and segregation of waste materials, including wood, glass, steel angles, metal sheets and plastics. After assessing the available materials, the students identify suitable products that can be made and plan for batch production. The initiative not only promotes sustainable waste management but also equips students with practical skills in design, carpentry and resource conservation, demonstrating how industrial waste can be transformed into useful products through innovation and craftsmanship.